Guarding Beijing's Food Security in the Qing Dynasty: State, Market, and Police

Lillian M. Li, Alison Dray-Novey
1999 Journal of Asian Studies  
AN ESSENTIAL FEATURE OF BEIJING'S long history as China's imperial capital was the ability to feed its population despite a geographical location distinctly unfavorable to agriculture. For all ancient and modern states, provisioning the capital is not only a matter of pride and prestige but a question of survival. The failure to feed civil officials, military supporters, and the urban population that serves them is a visible sign of a government's inadequacy and easily leads to political unrest. For these
doi:10.2307/2658493 pmid:21970020 fatcat:k5ppoddsx5bwtitej56mgya4mu